Firestone hoping for better in 2009

Tuesday

Two years ago, the Firestone Falcons were flying high. The team was 7-4, won its first outright Akron City Series championship and earned a playoff berth.

Then, the bottom fell out for Firestone in 2008. Considered one of the preseason favorites to repeat as City Series champions, the Falcons came crashing down behind an 0-10 season which featured just two games decided by less than two touchdowns.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fourth in a 10-part series profiling the Massillon Tigers’ 2009 football opponents. Next: Garfield.

Two years ago, the Firestone Falcons were flying high. The team was 7-4, won its first outright Akron City Series championship and earned a playoff berth.
Then, the bottom fell out for Firestone in 2008. Considered one of the preseason favorites to repeat as City Series champions, the Falcons came crashing down behind an 0-10 season which featured just two games decided by less than two touchdowns.
During the course of that season, a number of freshmen and sophomores managed to play some significant minutes. And those players haven’t forgotten what it was like to walk off the field night after night on the short end of the scoreboard.
“Our juniors and sophomores (in 2009), they didn’t like losing,” said coach Tim Flossie, who will bring his Falcons into Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Friday, Sept. 18 to meet the Massillon Tigers. “They’re bitter about that. I think they’ve given us a real solid effort so far this summer. They’re determined to turn the tide from last year.”
Flossie is going to need those players this fall, because he has only six seniors on his roster. The Falcons, like most of the Akron public high schools, were hurt by past financial issues in the district which cut out middle school athletics.
That, in turn, hurt the high school programs counting on those players coming up through the ranks.
“We just had a small turnout when those guys were freshmen, and it hasn’t grown,” said Flossie, entering his fourth year at Firestone. “The kids we have are all going to play.”
One player the Falcons won’t have is quarterback Randall Kennedy. Kennedy, who was the team’s starter last season, moved to Toledo.
That leaves the quarterback job up in the air.
“Our quarterback situation needs to be upgraded,” Flossie said. “We’re looking for a quarterback.”
What Firestone isn’t looking for is a running game. Flossie believes his team has a solid foundation in that area with the return of Cody Grice and Isaiah Brown.
Those two started a year ago, and both provide the kind of backs Flossie believes his offense can be built around.
“We have a couple of real good ones in Cody and Isaiah,” Flossie said. “Plus, we have a couple of young guys behind them as well. Our ground game is solid, so we’re going to try and put some points on the board.”
A year ago, Firestone struggled to keep the other team from scoring in a big way. The fewest number of points the Falcons surrendered was 24 in the season opener against Revere.
They had seven games of at least 30 points allowed, four games of at least 40 surrendered, and a season-high 67 points given up in a Week Eight loss to Garfield.
“We have to get better defensively,” Flossie said.
Flossie believes part of the secret to that is another year of experience for several of his key defensive players. That includes linebacker James Ray – who will be a four-year starter – 6-foot-5, 310-pound junior nose guard Tommy Brown and Grice at one of the outside linebacker spots.
“We have some guys to build around,” Flossie said. “But we need to get much better on defense, there’s no question about it.”
Part of that improvement means looking to some younger players once again. Flossie believes those young players will hold the key to getting Firestone back on top of the City Series and into the playoffs again.
“We’ve had some strong ninth-grade classes coming up,” Flossie said. “We’ve had two really good classes in a row. After this year, I think we’ll be a good, sound ballclub. We’re just battling some inconsistency right now.”

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